It looks like Denis Villeneuve is on the verge of becoming the next J.J. Abrams this week as we are hearing that the Canadian director is being sought after for yet another major sci-fi reboot. Villeneuve is currently in post-production on Blade Runner 2049, the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s seminal 1982 sci-fi noir. However, word on the street is the folks at Legendary Pictures are also pursuing him to direct their recently announced reboot of Frank Herbert’s Dune. It would appear that Villeneuve has suddenly become Hollywood’s go to guy for big budget studio science-fiction films that are both thoughtful and visually spectacular. That’s not necessarily an easy balance and he may have his work cut out for him with Dune. Hit the jump for more details.

According to Variety, Denis Villeneuve is in early talks to direct Legendary’s Dune reboot. Back in September, he revealed that directing a new version of Dune was a “longstanding dream” for him but he was not optimistic that he could secure the rights. That was just a couple of months before Legendary announced their deal with the Frank Herbert estate for the film and TV rights to the book series.

Ironically, Ridley Scott was attached to direct a Dune movie back in the late ’70s, but dropped out in order to direct Blade Runner instead. It is unclear if Villeneuve would also be involved in any Dune-related TV projects, but for the moment, it looks as though he would just direct the first movie in what they hope will become a major entertainment franchise. It is also unclear just how far along the negotiations are. Do you think Denis Villeneuve would be the perfect choice to direct a new Dune movie?

Around the Web:

Vince

Another single word title. He really did mess everything up with Blade Runner 2049.

Tommy

As long as he keeps up a two film per year average, hopefully he can do a grounded movie for every big sci-fi thing.

stinker

Wait and see whtat will become of Blade runner 2049. And how many versions of DUNE are out there? How many fall through? Will trust it wenn the movie starts in the cinema,

Lisa Naarseth Myklebust

The guy has made 4 films the past 3 years. All of them either pretty gopod or fantastic. If Blade Runner 2049 fails to deliver, we can most certainly blame it on studio control.